Lukaku enjoys dream return as Belgium defeat Croatia in World Cup warm-up

The opening attempt on target was provided by Jeremy Doku, who operated through the centre as uncertainty persisted over Romelu Lukaku's match readiness, but it did not overly concern Dominik Livakovic.

Croatia crafted a more promising early chance when Luka Modric released Petar Musa on the counter-attack, but the FC Dallas striker could only hit the side netting as the angle quickly narrowed.

Belgium then earned a dangerous free-kick thanks to Doku, though Maxim De Cuyper's choice to assume responsibility from Kevin De Bruyne appears improbable to be replicated soon.

Unsurprisingly, a swift De Bruyne free-kick initiated the sequence that produced Belgium's opening goal, and it came as no shock that Doku played a significant part as well. Causing problems for his defender on the flank, he created room to deliver a cross, and a defensive confusion in the box allowed the ball to reach Youri Tielemans, who calmly finished.

That represented a true picture of the opening period, even though Thibaut Courtois needed to produce a top-class save to prevent his former Real Madrid colleague Modric from equalising moments before half-time.

Neither side made changes at the start of the second half, yet they appeared to be merely going through the motions pending the anticipated wholesale substitutions.

Those changes finally arrived around the 60-minute mark, as Croatia made five simultaneous alterations, and Ante Budimir came within inches of an immediate effect when his header struck the crossbar.

A similar scenario then unfolded at the opposite end, as Hans Vanaken directed his header onto the frame of the goal after coming on as a substitute.

As the match appeared to be fading out, another substitute, Lukaku, reinforced his claim for a World Cup starting position in spite of restricted playing time for his club, deciding the encounter with a clinical finish on the counter-attack during his first appearance for Belgium in twelve months.

Zlatko Dalic's team have now recorded back-to-back friendly defeats for the first time in twenty years, having earlier enjoyed a nine-match unbeaten run.

Belgium will next face Tunisia in a home friendly, before starting their World Cup campaign against Egypt. Croatia, meanwhile, will commence their tournament in the United States with a huge encounter against England, following a home fixture against Slovenia in their last warm-up game.